The main story in 2024 was the increase in inventory. While people spent 2023 and the first part of 2024 waiting for rates to drop before listing their home, eventually the demands of life changes outweighed the hope for a lower rate, and sellers started bringing more homes to market. Nearly 56,000 homes were listed; almost 13% more than 2023. And many of these listings were snapped up by excited buyers, with more than 42,000 homes closing; 1.3% more than 2023. The homes that didn’t sell led to more active listings each month, peaking at just over 11,000 units in September, before dropping to about 6900 at year end. We have to go back to 2013 to see that level of active listings at year end. So there are more options out there for buyers than we have seen in a long time. Buyers have more negotiating power now, and multiple offer scenarios aren’t nearly as common (although they do still happen on homes that are styled correctly and appropriately priced). But even with this increased inventory, we are still working with around two months of inventory for detached homes, or three months for attached/condos. (Special note: condos are seeing increasing challenges due to rising HOA dues and special assessments; reach out to talk about these factors if you are at all involved with a condo or other HOA property.)